Lake County Partners: pipeline could push 2025 past $1 billion in capital investment; housing, workforce initiatives highlighted

Kevin Considine, presenting by Zoom for Lake County Partners, told the Lake County Board Financial & Administrative Committee on Oct. 30 that the organization expects 2025 to be the best year in the county's recent history for direct capital investment.

"We are on track to finish, and what is likely the best year in the history of the county," Considine said, saying that if several pending projects close before year end the county's direct capital investment for 2025 could exceed $1 billion.

The update cited two recent local wins: Bel Air Creations completed a third expansion in Round Lake Park, and MSI Express is planning to occupy the former Jelly Belly facility in North Chicago. Considine said the MSI move preserves manufacturing jobs by allowing the new tenant to hire existing or former Jelly Belly employees.

Considine introduced Steve Tabretto as LCP's new director of strategic initiatives (onboard Oct. 1), who will lead elements of the county's comprehensive economic development strategy, including housing, college‑going and career awareness, and early‑childhood care. "The Housing Lake County Task Force is about halfway through that six‑month process," Considine said, describing LCP's role in convening municipalities and developers and making site introductions.

Workforce efforts drew substantial attention. Considine described last week's Navigate Lake youth career fair, which he said hosted roughly 6,000 students and about 100 exhibitors across manufacturing, agriculture, health care, life sciences and trades. "It was unbelievably impressive," he said, highlighting hands‑on demonstrations by local fire departments and a youth race‑car exhibitor.

LCP is also leading an RFP for a roughly 12‑month landscape study of the county's career‑pathway system, funded in part by Schreiber Philanthropy, the Hunter Family Foundation and the Gorter Family Foundation. Considine said the study will identify gaps and inform where county partners should focus workforce investments.

On international outreach, Considine said the GSEP partnership pilot was renewed and that LCP will host a third annual foreign direct investment event (a spin‑off of SelectUSA, the U.S. Department of Commerce program) aimed at vetted international investors, focusing on cleantech and food innovation. He also mentioned plans for a business delegation trip to Hanover, Germany, timed with a major manufacturing trade show.

Committee members asked about whether recent national headlines about Chicago's safety and immigration enforcement had affected company recruitment. Considine said he had not yet seen a measurable effect but that LCP is preparing messaging strategies as part of its 2026 outreach.

The presentation closed with a preview of LCP's FY2026 budget priorities: continuing business‑attraction marketing, sustaining events and groundbreakings, and advancing select SEDS initiatives, particularly housing, once initial studies conclude.